Coca-Cola Europacific Partners – a bottling unit of Coca-Cola – reported a 5% rise in fourth-quarter sales on Friday, helped by strong demand for higher-priced beverages, especially in Australia, Pacific and Southeast Asia markets.
The UK-based company – which bottles Coca-Cola’s beverages including Coca-Cola, Sprite and Monster in Western Europe and Australia, also said it would buy back shares worth €1 billion over the next 12 months.
The company – which supplies beverages to fast-food chains including McDonald’s and KFC-owner Yum Brands – also saw a boost from demand for value combo meals, which typically include a beverage.
Volumes rose 1.7% in Australia, Pacific and Southeast Asia regions, but declined 2.6% in Europe as it removed Capri Sun products from its range due to distribution agreements ending.
Overall, the company’s adjusted comparable volumes fell 1.1% in the fourth quarter, but was offset by higher prices of its beverages, it said.
The Coca-Cola Company on Tuesday had forecast annual sales growth at the upper end of its long-term target after a surprise quarterly revenue rise.
To attract new customers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has been investing to roll out new product variants, including Coca-Cola Lime on both the regular and zero variants, baking on the popularity of flavoured colas.
For the quarter ended 31 December, the company’s adjusted comparable revenue rose 5% to €5.25 billion.
The company predicts annual adjusted comparable operating profit growth of about 7% – compared to 8% growth in 2024.
It also forecast annual adjusted comparable revenue growth of about 4% – compared to a 3.5% rise in the past year.
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